Ubermensch – Chapter 124

“Good.”

A long time passed. Mason switched to survival mode to minimize oxygen and calorie consumption. Nonetheless, his life was nearing its limit.

It was the Destroyer’s dimension.

“Is it a past point in time?”

“Good. Let’s go.”

Mason said, grinding his teeth.

“To destroy the Destroyer!”

The Spirit King opened the gate.

The wall between dimensions was thinner than expected. Perhaps it felt that way because they were in a hurry.

Mason and his party were about to pass through the dimensional passage to the Destroyer’s dimension.

Clank!

“Kyaaak!”

Starting with the slowest, the Ghost Dragon, the others began to freeze in place.

When even the Spirit King was caught, the Laughing God attempted an evasive maneuver that had been pre-programmed into the Soldier.

However, the Laughing God was also caught and immobilized.

Mason gritted his teeth and tried to open the cockpit.

He was going to head for Earth, even if it meant burning to death in the atmosphere.

However, Mason’s outstretched hand stopped with a clank.

‘What… is this…?’

It wasn’t like he was being blocked by a powerful force. It wasn’t like his strength was draining away. It was as if someone, someone he couldn’t dare to defy, had stopped time itself.

“Stop. You who have not crossed time.”

Someone was standing before them.

Someone with their back to them was looking at the Earth.

His mouth wasn’t moving. His tongue wasn’t moving. But his thoughts were. Mason spoke telepathically.

“No. I am the Destroyer’s enemy. You know me as the Lord of Time.”

Mason was enraged.

“I am protecting you.”

At that moment, a fleeting instant passed. A few seconds, perhaps.

And when time stopped again, there were dozens, hundreds of Soldiers aiming their weapons at them.

No. That was just the closest Soldier. The number of Soldiers was countless. The expression ‘a tidal wave’ was cliché, but it was the only way to describe their army.

Mason felt his heart breaking.

‘Was he even prepared for time travel…?’

“You are not the first, nor will you be the last, to think that the Destroyer’s weakness is time.”

The person with their back to them raised a hand and pointed to their right.

There, the boundaries between dimensions stretched out infinitely, and within that infinite time, an infinite battle was unfolding. Soldiers, and giant weapons that resembled Soldiers, were engaged in an endless war of attrition.

“Did you not hear? That the battle in time is being lost?”

The person with their back to them raised a hand and pointed to their left.

There were broken giant weapons and Soldiers. And still more Soldiers, endlessly pouring in, floating in the void.

The exchange rate between the giant weapons and the Soldiers was similar to that between the Soldiers themselves, but the number of Soldiers was truly infinite.

“The Time Troopers who stand with me are being pushed back by the Destroyer’s forces. I cannot allow you to share the same fate as us.”

Mason sent a telepathic message.

“That is correct.”

The person with their back to them spoke in a voice filled with bitterness.

“If I can utilize time, I should have considered that the other side could also utilize time. I realized this too late, and as the price of my folly, I am suffering the agony of fighting a losing battle for an eternity. To prevent others from losing before they even fight. To hold back the Destroyer, I am enduring infinite defeat.”

Mason realized.

“That is correct. And the moment he became aware of my existence, the Destroyer began to use even time as a battlefield.”

“Absolutes do not exist, and time is merely a component of the universe. Gravity can bend time, and space can overwhelm time. Thus, like all things, time has its limits.”

The person with their back to them looked at the left, filled with defeat, and said.

“Do not overestimate time. Not if you do not want to end up like those who have walked your path.”

Mason despaired.

At that moment, the Soldier’s monitor suddenly displayed a set of coordinates. The person with their back to them must have sent the data.

“If you are going to risk your life, risk it on hope.”

A single name was displayed on the monitor.

Nodens, the Magnificent.

The person with their back to them had given them the coordinates to Nodens.

“Go, Mason. You have not yet lost, so do not join the ranks of our defeated. Carve your own destiny, and open the future. While I, in endless time, face eternal defeat.”

Time began to flow again. No, time began to flow in reverse. Their bodies were being pulled back, and the dimensional gate began to close.

Just before the gate closed completely.

The person with their back to them slowly turned around.

And there… stood someone Mason knew well, wearing a wistful smile.

“You are…”

As the dimensional gate closed, Mason and his party returned to the moment the gate had opened.

They were speechless for a moment.

They were in despair, realizing that even time could not be their weapon.

The first to speak was Mason.

“…Let’s go. To Nodens.”

The Ghost Dragon, dejected and drained of its venom, said.

“I don’t know. But… we have to go. As long as we are still alive, as long as we do not abandon hope. We have to go.”

Mason clenched his jaw.

The machines used by the Time Troopers were similar to, yet different from, the Soldiers. The clothes worn by the person with their back to them were also similar to, yet different from, the attire of the 28th century.

He didn’t know when or where they came from… but they were certainly not from his dimension.

However, nothing had changed.

The fact that he was enduring infinite defeat to give others a chance, the fact that he had passed that chance on to Mason, and… the fact that Mason would never let go of that chance.

Nothing had changed.

Except, perhaps, to make Mason’s resolve a little firmer.

Mason gritted his teeth and said.

“Because it’s the last chance my uncle gave me.”